Department’s Wage and Hour Division seeks to debar Oregon drywall company from future government contracts

Employer: PR Drywall LLC

Site: 2730 SE 39th Loop Suite E, Hillsboro, Oregon

Investigation findings: Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found PR Drywall in violation of the overtime, recordkeeping, and prevailing wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. The company paid drywall finishers well below the prevailing wage rates required for federal contracts, and employees worked beyond 40 hours in a week without receiving time-and-one-half per hour wages. 

Resolution: PR Drywall agreed to comply with the FLSA and DBRA, and paid $98,000 in back wages to seven employees. See investigation details in press release issued last March.

The division is now working to debar PR Drywall LLC from future federal government contracts as violations of the Davis-Bacon contract clauses may be grounds for contract termination, contractor liability for any resulting costs to the government and debarment from future contracts for a period up to three years. Officials filed a lawsuit with the Office of Administrative Law Judges on Jan. 5, 2016, to initiate debarment litigation to prevent PR Drywall from obtaining future contracts funded by taxpayers.

Quote: “No business should gain an economic advantage by paying workers below the required wages and fringe benefits on a prevailing wage project,” said Thomas Silva, the division’s district director in Portland. “The public has the right to expect federal contractors will comply with the law. It’s our responsibility to ensure that contractors who violate that trust are denied future contracts with the government.” 

Information: For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd.